Paris Perfections

I can't get Parisian gardens out of my mind. As highly designed and vast as they are, the public gardens of Paris are full of quiet and not-so-quiet surprises. How can gardens based on geometric shapes and planted in rigid allees of trees be so satisfying? I think it's both the age of the gardens, and the human factor - these old gardens have mellowed with time, acquired a patina over the years. They're softened and given human scale by all the tourists and locals that populate them, for the parks are filled with people sitting around enjoying the weather, the plants, the passing parade of people...

I've written a longer column about Parisian gardens for Pacific Northwest magazine in the Seattle Times which will run in a few weeks...in the meantime, here are a few perfect late September moments in Paris:

This expressionistic vegetable garden, complete with pumpkins and colorful fencing, was unexpected in the mostly formal gardens at the Tuileries in the heart of Paris: (All photos taken by me with my iPhone)

We came across this shady grotto in a corner of the Luxembourg Gardens - which to my eye was much more impressive than any of the more elaborate ornamentation and statuary at Versailles.

Ivy draped like garlands is reflected in the still waters of the rectangular pond.

The flower borders are both loose and formal, like these two in the Tuleries. The top photo shows pale blue little phlox grown to standards, interspersed with fragrant nicotiana and trimmed with marigolds and pennisetum (who would have thought that combo would look so good? Is it because it's repeated for such a long stretch, and set off by the simplicity of green hedging and lawns?)

I especially loved the watermelon-colored'Alma Potschke' asters (bottom photo) that I grow in my garden on Whidbey, shown here  with Verbena bonariensis and the Louvre in the background.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Ruth]

Thanks for these lovely Paris pics! I felt the same way about the Luxembourg Gardens.

[Wendy]

looking forward to Pac. mag article. just thought to remind you, it is Tuileries, and Versailles as correct spellingS! sorry, just had to be a grammarian for a moment.

[valerie Easton]

Hi Wendy,
Thanks, you can see how I need an editor....The great thing about a blog, as opposed to print, is that the spelling errors are already corrected!
Val

[Jeff]

Beautiful garden pictures. I noticed in one of them they have some cold frames that look like bent wood. Do you know what the frames are made out of? Wood or some sort of metal? Anyhow, thanks for sharing.

Jeff
TheGardenCloche.com | Garden Plant Covers

[valerie Easton]

Hi Jeff,
You must mean the top photo? I don't really remember for sure, but I believe they are metal rounds or hoops with netting/fabric stretched over them.

Hope this helps -
Val

[Garden Decor]

All ur photos are so sweet and colorfull too...I have heared about paris but this is the first time me seeing all those places in ur picture ..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGszA07PqVs I feel very happy to visit ur garden ...

[Wendy]

I meant to comment further...I was also in France this september and became obsessed with trough gardens. There are so MANY in southern france (Aveyron) mostly made of ancient stone but there are some newish ones for sale, too. They mostly grow sedum and sempervivum in them but there are also some planted to geraniums, petunias and other annuals. Mostly I love the look of the stone, encrusted with lichen and moss. Might be time for me to break down and try hypertufa.

[valerie Easton]

Hi Wendy,
I loved the trough gardens in France too - they look so ancient and appropriate there...
Val

[sharon]

I'm with Ruth. I loved walking thru Luxembourg Gardens. It is just trees and gravel, mostly, I kept thinking. How can it be so satisfying and perfect. But it was. Every time.

[Daniel Mount]

I always make a pilgrimage to Parc Monceau and Parc Andre Citroen when in Paris. Though they seem antithetical to one another they both are clearly French. I love that they are out of the tourist zone, I can just sit for hours in either of them just watching the French go about their lives. Something I can never afford time-wise in Seattle. Looking forward to your article. A fellow fan of the parks of Paris.